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Catalyst At Gen Con 2015

Catalyst Game Labs will be at Gen Con 2015 in force! We’ve got a slew of great gaming and games to check out at booths 417, 413, 509, 617.

THE SHADOWRUN RPG EXPERIENCE

Once more the fantastic Shadowrun RPG Experience returns!

Dive into gaming in the Sixth World like never before as players step into the infamous Dante’s Inferno club in Seattle’s Sprawl. An 8-foot tall, 30-foot long banner creates an immersive 11 foot diameter room were you can learn Shadowrun, Fifth Edition and run the mean streets in the shadows of the megacorps.

Runs must be made by appointment only with our exclusive Dante’s Inferno concierge.

SHADOWRUN: CROSSFIRE

“I know I sound like I’m talking about a roleplaying game, and it’s not. But it lends itself well to telling a good story.” – Zee Garcia, The Dice Tower

If you’ve not played Crossfire, stop on by to give it a try!

Shadowrun: Crossfire is a deck-building game crossing cyperpunk with fantasy and plunging players into a world dominated by ruthless megacorporations; Crossfire gives players the chance to dive into the world’s shadows to see if they can survive. They’ll have weapons, spells, contacts, and gear to help them out, and they’re going to need those resources. If they play their cards right, they’ll do more than survive—they’ll become legends.

SHADOWRUN: CROSSFIRE HARLEQUIN PARTY II

You think you know the Shadows? You believe you’ve paid the right price to be a Shadowrunner? Think again chummer! Shadowrun: Crossfire will take you down a new path of mysteries and danger. Harlequin has some big plans for the small group of runners who are willing to risk their very souls to beat the objectives. Invitations to Harlequin’s little soiree are hard to come by.

Come on down to the Indianapolis Convention Center, Rooms 120-122 on Saturday, 1 August at 2200 if you dare to take part in the Shadowrun: Crossfire release event. Crossfire designers Rob Heinsoo, Rob Watkins, and Jay Schneider will be running this event!

BATTLETECH NOVELS

BattleTech fiction has always been its greatest strength, with well over a hundred novels publishing across twenty years. Nothing brings the epic stories, heroic characters and desperate battlefield action to life better than novels. It’s been long years since new print novels saw publication for this seminal universe. Now, a new era is opening for BattleTech as the first, all new, full-length novel reaches print at Gen Con. Stop on by and grab a copy of Embers of Wars and slide back into the heavy metal action of the 31st century!

Oh, and we just might have a sample miniature to show off what we’re planning for the future!

THE DUKEDOM

We’ve brought it back again! Come play a larger-than-life version of The Duke with 18 inch tiles on a 10 foot x 10 foot board! Or sit down at one of several The Duke tables and give this fantastic tile-laying game a full try.

OTHER NEW GAMES

We’ve got some fantastic new games coming your way.

VALIANT UNIVERSE RPG“Basically, this game hits all the right spots it needed to. It encourages you to play all the main characters from the comic books in the Valiant Universe, and gives you no holds barred access to the Valiant universe.” Aaron Richardson (All Us Geeks, Guest Review)

ENCOUNTERS: BRAVEST WARRIORS
We pre-released Encounters: Bravest Warriors last year, but the full release is now available. And each deck now includes 1 unique CatBug die! Additionally, the fantastic folks at WeLoveFine have given us several CatBug Pounce Vinyl Figures to give away! Just stop by the booth, play the wonderfully fun and fast Encounters: Bravest Warriors or purchase a deck, and you’ll be entered into a drawing each evening at 5:30 PM to win a free one! (You must be present to win and no tickets carry over from one day to the next.)

JARL: THE VIKINGS TILE-LAYING GAMEIn the long winters between raiding seasons, warriors keep their intellect sharp through games of wits and chance. Ragnar, Rollo, Floki and even the Earl challenge each other to this game of stone placement filled with tactics and subtle maneuvering for victory.

WRATH OF DRAGONSTake on the mantle of a most powerful dragon. Awaken each century, terrifying and rapacious. Lay waste to settlements and cities. Burn crops… Consume flocks… Hoard treasure…

And pass into legend as the greatest dragon of any age!

We’ve got an early release for our new, unique ‘Resource Destruction’ game in Wrath of Dragons. Come play a dragon as it pillages and plunders across the landscape, stealing gold, livestock, nobles and crushing human’s that dare raise settlements in your lands. Whoever hoards the most after six centuries wins!

We will have tons of Shadowrun Missions with Fifth Edition goodness, Cosmic Patrol for rockets, rayguns and robots, become a superhero and battle deadly villains in the Valiant Universe RPG, both BattleTech: Alpha Strike and BattleTech: Total Warfare for all your BattleMech destruction, and Leviathans for domination of the skies in an alternate 1910! We will also be running a wide range of Shadowrun: Crossfire games, as well as a The Duke tournament.

And we’ve some additional games focused on specific games and communities. Shadowrun GM Bootcamp-Basic will provide a GM the tools and advice they need to start running Shadowrun; attend the Advanced Bootcamp to gain insight into solving problem areas of GMing Shadowrun. Dress up as your favorite Shadowrun character and join us in the Shadowrun LARP discovering the underbelly of Chicago. Too many runs have you down, laugh it up with our group of GMs at the Whose Run is it Anyway yearly event.

Finally, looking for pickup games after the Exhibit Hall closes? We will have all of our games available in the gaming hall to play with events starting up as soon as we have enough people to play a round.

GAME DESIGNS AND ART PORTFOLIO REVIEWS

Randall N. Bills, Catalyst’s Managing Developer, will be in-booth for reviewing game designs from 2PM to 5PM Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Brent Evans, the Catalyst Art Director, will be in-booth specifically for review of art portfolios Thursday through Saturday, 10AM to Noon and 2PM to 4PM.

NEW BOOKS/GAMES

As usual, a good chunk of the Gen Con experience is diving into the plethora of new games released just for the show. Below is what we hope to have for our various communities.

(As always, a few caveats: A. We are trying to get all of these items to the show, but there’s a chance some might not make it: simply the luck of the draw when trying to coordinate this many items through five printers from three different countries around the world; B: Some of these items are convention exclusives; C. Non-exclusive items won’t be available in-stores until a later time; once we have Street Dates for any items available to stores we’ll post updates with that data.)

In no particular order, the following are brand new to the show (or only recently released):

SHADOWRUN: CROSSFIRE CHARACTER EXPANSION 2: STREET LEGENDS ($19.99)

Shadowrunners are nothing if not indviduals, and Character Expansion Pack 2 gives you plenty of more individuals to use in your Shadowrun: Crossfire game. It includes an additional set of Higher-Caliber Ops upgrade stickers, adding options for making the exact character you envision, five street legend cards for players who want to leap into the shadows with a head start, and twenty standard character cards with new art for players designing runners from the ground up.

Shadowrun Chrome Flesh (Standard $49.99; LE 74.99)

Shadowrunners cannot be limited by what their bodies can—or cannot—do. They have to do more, stretch farther, surpass any limits, and accomplish the impossible. Some runners can rely on magic; for everyone else, there are augmentations. From shiny chrome that makes your body into a humanoid semi-truck to genetech that alters you at the most fundamental level to drugs and chemicals that give you a quick and dirty boost, Chrome Flesh provides dozens of new ways to alter Shadowrun characters and make them better, stronger, faster, and altogether readier to kick ass and take names on the streets.

Along with the gear and a compiled table of all cyberware, bioware, genetech, and nanotech currently available in Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, Chrome Flesh covers how runners break down and what resources can help fix them up, and where augmentation tech might go in the future. It’s paydata every shadowrunner needs if they want to overcome everything the Sixth World is going to throw at them.

Shadowrun Boundless Mercy ($19.99)

Elizabeth Nunn, a delightful woman who happens to have an odd habit of hanging out in hospitals and abandoned churches, has a grudge. A deep grudge. The kind of grudge that requires professional help to work out, and we’re not talking about a psychotherapist. She needs shadow runners, and if they’re willing to take on the job, they’ll encounter fierce gangers, wild critters, and members of a secret magical society who fiercely guard their secrets. If the runners can survive, they can find out just what Nunn is mad about—and how far she is willing to go for her revenge.

Boundless Mercy is a series of Shadowrun Missions that were first run at major conventions. Featuring four linked adventures with complete game information, this book offers plenty of resources for gamemasters—and some steep challenges for players.

Shadowrun World of Shadows, Anthology ($12.95)

The Sixth World is a dangerous place, with deadly hazards lurking around every corner. Everywhere shadowrunners go, from the top of the world to the deepest, darkest Sprawl neighborhood, some’s always looking to make their rep by taking you down.

World of Shadows is the second anthology of original Shadowrun short stories, each one showcasing some of the most far-flung, treacherous locations around the world. From a scientific mission gone wrong in the snowy wilds of Russia to an AR nightclub in Morocco sheltering runners on the lam to a recovering runner drawn into a deadly web of intrigue in the darkest alleys of Hong Kong, these eighteen original short stories explore exotic settings far off the beaten path. Featuring stories by Michael A. Stackpole, Mel Odom, Jean Rabe, Aaron Rosenberg, Phaedra Weldon, Annie Bellet, Chris A. Jackson and many others, find out what happens when shadowrunners have to battle not only with ever-present threat of the corps and Mr. Johnson, but also the dangers of the very land they stand on.

BattleTech Technical Readout: 3150 ($39.99)

War has spread across the Inner Sphere, shattering and shifting alliances both old and new. As the Clans once more close in on humanity’s homeworld of Terra, the walls of Fortress have come down, revealing the return of Devlin Stone. Desperate for any edge, the Great Houses, Clans, and Periphery states of the Inner Sphere have unleashed a flood of new war machines, rushing them into battle on every front.

Technical Readout: 3150 collects the latest generation of battle armor, vehicles, ’Mechs, and aerospace units from around the Inner Sphere in a single print volume for the first time, complementing the Republic-heavy units shown in Technical Readout: 3145. Featuring new technologies found in Era Report: 3145 and Field Manual: 3145, with new variants and notable pilots, this volume provides players with a glimpse into the twilight years of the Dark Age Era.

BattleTech Interstellar Operations, BETA ($19.99)

Marshal your forces and prepare to conquer the Inner Sphere! Interstellar Operations is the long-awaited next rules installment to the series begun with Total Warfare and carried through the award-winning Tactical Operations and Strategic Operations. The former focuses on a whole new level of excitement directly on your gaming table while the later focuses on moving from a single scenario to a multi-part campaigns and how to take an entire solar system. Interstellar Operations zooms up to the final level, allowing players to assume the roles of House Lord or Clan Khans and dominate the galaxy.

Interstellar Operations contains rules for the running of an entire faction’s military as a player tries to conquer (or defend) numerous solar systems. More importantly, the system contains rules that allow players to stage any large-scale conflict back through the various rule sets, as they desire—from BattleForce or Alpha Strike as detailed in Strategic Operations, Alpha Strike and Alpha Strike Companion, all the way up to the simple, easy-to-use rules of conflict at the largest scale. Players have complete flexibility for any type of conflict in which they wish to engage.

BattleTech Alpha Strike 3039 and 3050 Cards ($19.99)

Alpha Strike is a new, fast-playing form of the BattleTech game of armored combat. Alpha Strike 3039 and 3050 Cards includes 108 double-sided cards with all the game stats players need to instantly take to the battlefield. The cards reflect the Units listed in Technical Readout: 3039 and Technical Readout: 3050 and include conventional infantry and Clan Elemental battle armor. Quick-start cards allow you to play Alpha Strike right out of the box. Full-color and laminated for dry-erase use, you just need miniatures and you’ll be playing BattleTech like never before!

BattleTech Embers of War, Novel ($12.95)

For Ezra Payne and the Stealthy Tiger mercenaries, professionalism is everything. Hired to assist in the bitter, bloody fighting on the planet Hall, they quickly earn a decisive victory for their employer. They settle afterward in for a needed period of rebuilding, and a few months’ peace before moving on to the next contract.

But their respite does not last. More mercenaries, hired by the Allied Mercenary Command itself, land on Hall. They believe the Tigers’ employer to be league with the Word of Blake, a shadowy interstellar organization that worships technology, and which has been building its own empire among the worlds around Terra.
The Tigers want nothing of this battle, but war rages across the Inner Sphere. The hard-fought cease-fire cannot last, even on Hall, and when every faction is embittered and fueled by fervor, peace has no chance at all.

As a new conflict erupts, will the Stealthy Tigers’ BattleMechs be enough to save them? Or will the looming threat of renewed war engulf them in its fiery embrace?

Wrath of Dragons ($59.99)

Take on the mantle of a most powerful dragon. Awaken each century, terrifying and rapacious. Lay waste to settlements and cities. Burn crops… Consume flocks… Hoard treasure…

And pass into legend as the greatest dragon of any age!

In Wrath of Dragons, each player will assume the role of a dragon that, over the course of many centuries, flies into different regions of the Old World to lay waste to settlements, scorch fields, snatch livestock, take gold, and capture nobles.

After 6 centuries have passed, the devastation, destruction, and fear that the dragons have caused is scored, and the dragon that earns the most Victory Points is the winner!

Additionally, each purchase of Wrath of Dragons will include a Copper Dragon promo!

Jarl: The Vikings Tile-Laying Game ($39.99)

In the long winters between raiding seasons, warriors keep their intellect sharp through games of wits and chance. Ragnar, Rollo, Floki and even the Earl challenge each other to this game of stone placement filled with tactics and subtle maneuvering for victory.

In Jarl: The Vikings Tile Laying Game, players move their warriors (tiles) around the board and flip them over after each move. Each tile’s side shows a different movement profile. If you end your movement in a square occupied by an opponent’s tile, you capture that tile. Capture your opponent’s Jarl to win!

This game is powered by The Duke! Download the full rules for free to see the exciting new tiles and movement icons!

Encounters: Bravest Warriors Red & Blue Decks ($12.99 Each)

The Space-Time Calliope is vast and dangerous, waiting for courageous heroes to save the day. You’re those heroes! Become the Bravest Warriors and battle your way through a myraid of encounters to Victory!

Encounters is a new dice and card game mechanic from Catalyst Game Labs where players try beating the cards individually, but with a good dollop of player interaction.

In the Encounters: Bravest Warriors RED DECK you play this fast and fun game as the characters from the show: DANNY, BETH, JELLY KID or CATBUG; in the BLUE DECK you play as CHRIS, WALLOW, PLUM or IMPOSSIBEAR!

Both decks are for 1 to 4 players, playing a game in 15-30 minutes. Enjoy many new Encounter and Item cards to challenge your fun from one deck to the next, or combine them both for up to 8 player action!